


magic numbers

by Suicix



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anniversary, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Multi, OT7, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 11:52:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11207529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suicix/pseuds/Suicix
Summary: “Our anniversary’s in May,” Jaebum tells Jinyoung. “And we’ve been together for nearly three years now, I don’t know what–”Oh. Of course that’s what Jinyoung means.“You forgot we’re dating five other people?”





	magic numbers

**Author's Note:**

> those necklaces: [exist]  
> my ot7 ass: On Fire
> 
> as jaebum is the pov character here (as well as the fact that this fic is set in the month of january for obvious reasons), his relationships with everyone will be the most prominent, but the ot7 relationship itself does not revolve around him.
> 
> also, look at the shiny new ot7 tag! recently, ao3 changed the tag wrangling guidelines regarding generic "ot# - relationship" tags, so those have been decanonised, so if you have works tagged with a tag like that (across any fandoms), you should go and re-tag them with a less ambiguous tag so people can find your fic (there's also an & version of this tag for ot7 friendship).

“You know,” Jinyoung says one evening, his voice cutting through the hum of the drama that’s playing on the television, “in a couple of weeks, it’ll have been a whole year.”

“Huh?” Jaebum blinks and turns away from the TV. He hadn’t even really been watching it, can barely even remember the name of the main lead, let alone the love interest. “What do you mean?”

“Our first anniversary,” Jinyoung clarifies, but Jaebum just frowns harder.

“Our anniversary’s in May,” he tells Jinyoung. “And we’ve been together for nearly three years now, I don’t know what–” _Oh._ Of course that’s what Jinyoung means.

“You forgot we’re dating five other people?”

As if Jaebum could ever forget that. In the past week alone, he’s watched Yugyeom dance and Jackson fence and been to karaoke with Youngjae. Today, he’s had a lengthy conversation about different video cameras via text with Bambam, because Bambam wants to vlog and of course a former film student like Jaebum has opinions on these things. Last night, Mark stayed overnight at Jaebum and Jinyoung’s apartment and fell asleep between them, the three of them a tangle of warm skin and cool sheets. Mark’s gone now, of course – had to get up for work and went back to his own place afterwards – but his scent will still be there on the pillows when it’s time for Jaebum to go to bed tonight.

So, no. Jaebum didn’t forget. Not really.

“I just forgot that we’d have to factor in things like anniversaries, you know?” he says. “It’s different. And my birthday’s first, anyway.”

“Oh, of course,” Jinyoung says, grinning. “The day that’s all about you.”

Jaebum shoves at Jinyoung’s shoulder, but he’s smiling back. Everyone else has had a birthday since they’ve all been together, after all. Now, it’s his turn.

 

 

On the sixth, Jaebum wakes up to Jinyoung’s arms around him and a phone screen full of birthday messages. Jinyoung peers at Jaebum’s phone over his shoulder, smiling.

“There’s enough time before we actually have to get up, yeah?” he says, but before Jaebum can echo his last word back to him to answer the question, Jinyoung’s pressing a kiss to the side of his neck, right where it meets his shoulder, and Jaebum gasps.

“Yeah,” Jaebum finally says after a moment. He clicks his phone screen off and sets it down on the mattress – he can reply to everyone later, once he’s actually up, and he’ll be seeing them in the evening, too – and turns over so he can kiss Jinyoung properly.

If this is only the start of his day, then Jaebum can’t wait for the rest of it, when he can have this from everyone.

 

 

The first knock at the door in the evening, when Jaebum opens it, turns out to be Jackson.

“It bothers me,” Jackson says plainly, before even bothering with a _hi_ or a _happy birthday,_ pointing at Jaebum with an accusing finger. “We’re the closest in age of all seven of us, but you get to be a whole year older over here.”

Jaebum just smirks at him: they’ve had this conversation several times already, but it will never not be amusing.

“I think you should consider putting a _hyung_ somewhere in there,” he says, and Jackson’s still outstretched finger pokes him right below his collarbone. Jaebum flinches backwards. “Hey, none of that – it’s my day today.”

“I suppose so.” Jackson smiles back at him, eyes glimmering. “ _Hyung,_ ” he adds, emphasising it, and Jaebum just laughs, shaking his head.

“Go inside and say hi to Jinyoung,” he says, and Jackson steps closer to Jaebum to kiss him on the cheek before doing exactly that. Jaebum can hear him greeting Jinyoung from out in the hallway, and his smile widens. Even though it’s been nearly a whole year, he still can’t believe this sometimes, still can’t believe any of it.

It doesn’t take long for the others to show up. Jaebum easily becomes the centre of attention: he has a party hat forced upon him by Bambam and Yugyeom, and he opens presents, and then the lights are off and there’s a cake in front of him, candles all lit up. On his last birthday, five of the people here with him now were only officially his friends. Jinyoung was the only one who leaned across for a kiss when Jaebum blew out the candles on his cake. This year, it feels like he has someone coming at him from every angle, six different kisses pressed to his mouth or his cheek or his forehead or his _nose_ , thank you, Youngjae. Youngjae just laughs at Jaebum’s expression (“Oh, hyung, the look on your face!”) when he pulls back, so infectious that Jaebum has to start laughing as well.

“I’ll cut the cake, yeah?” Mark asks, and Jaebum nods. Mark’s definitely the person here who he trusts the most with a sharp knife.

Seven is a tricky number to cut a circular cake into, but Mark takes it slowly, trying his best to slice it into equal pieces. When one ends up a bit bigger than the rest, that’s OK: it just means it’s Jaebum’s. It’s his birthday, after all.

It’s a good evening, even as it slows down and the others start to filter out and go home. Jaebum wishes they could all stay the night, wishes there was a bed big enough to fit them all, wishes it was somehow possible to be next to six different people at once. Still, Jinyoung beside him is enough. Knowing that the other five care about him is enough.

“I’m glad we did this,” he says when he’s in bed with Jinyoung later, their foreheads almost touching and the cover pulled right up to keep out the January cold. “I’m glad we let them in.”

“Me too, hyung.” Jinyoung runs a hand through Jaebum’s hair. “Happy birthday.”

Jaebum tilts his head forward a little, leaning into the touch. He closes his eyes. It’s enough.

 

 

On the sixteenth, Jaebum has to work late. Not quite late enough to actually mess up their plans, but he’s still sorry to miss anything. Still, it’s difficult to make a schedule that suits seven people, and he’s so thankful they managed to make it work today, when it’s _the_ day. He’s relieved when it’s finally time for him to go home, and even more so when he actually arrives, searching through every pocket of his jacket and his jeans and his bag for his keys before realising he must have forgotten them this morning. Jaebum knocks instead, and doesn’t have to wait long for an answer.

“Oh,” Jinyoung says, eyes wide in surprise when he realises that it’s Jaebum. “We thought it was going to be the food – we went ahead and ordered without you, if that’s OK.”

Of course it’s OK. Jinyoung knows what he likes, and if they hadn’t ordered already, then Jaebum would just have to wait even longer.

“Sure,” says Jaebum. “Happy anniversary.”

Jinyoung smiles and nods once, barely even inclining his head, but Jaebum knows he’s returning the sentiment. The last time either of them said that, it was at the end of spring, not the height of winter. There weren’t five other people in their apartment to share those words with. Jaebum can hear them: there’s the sound of chatter from the lounge as he and Jinyoung make their way through, and then Youngjae’s laugh breaking through it, loud and bright, just like always. It feels even more like coming home than it usually does.

Everybody looks up when Jaebum and Jinyoung enter.

“Jaebum-hyung!” Bambam exclaims when their eyes meet, and Jaebum returns his grin. Bambam’s dyed his hair since the last time Jaebum saw him, cherry tomato red, and though Jaebum’s seen photos – the seemingly endless selcas Bambam sent to their group chat, asking what everyone thought and demanding a response – this is his first time seeing it in person.

“Nice hair,” Jaebum tells Bambam, ruffling a hand through it as he passes by. (Bambam makes a face, like he’s mad that Jaebum’s messing it up, but Jaebum can _feel_ him leaning up into it.) “Hey, everyone.”

He gets a chorus of greetings in response, each one of them different, and takes a seat. The two couches in the living room just about fit everybody – to one side of Jaebum, Youngjae’s shifted across to be half in Mark’s lap so Jaebum can fit – but if anyone’s squashed at all, they’re not complaining. Yugyeom’s on Jaebum’s other side, and Jinyoung retakes what Jaebum supposes was his place between Bambam and Jackson on the other couch.

There’s another knock at the door soon enough: the food. Jinyoung collects it, and Jaebum supposes he should do his part as co-host by helping him, getting everything set out on the table and making sure everyone has what they want. The evening has the same feel as the night of his birthday, warm but calm (or, as calm as they can be, anyway), just without him as the focus of it all, and though other people might find any kind of repetition dull, Jaebum definitely isn’t complaining. They could have gone out for a meal, he guesses, but there would have been the issue of timing it all, especially as he was back late. Anyway, it’s easier to come here, where they can all fully relax, where it’s just _them,_ and no-one’s going to frown at the sight of seven people who look like they’re in love.

They eat, and somewhat amazingly, everyone helps clear up afterwards. Jaebum’s impressed. Still, they end up dissolving into nonsense and noise and laughter, and Jaebum can’t tell how much time’s going by – just knows there’s no place he’d rather be – and then there’s the sound of Jinyoung’s voice over everyone else, louder than usual.

“Hey!” The word is sudden, and everyone turns to look at him. He nods across at Mark. Jaebum isn’t surprised – Jinyoung’s the best at coaxing Mark out of his shell – and he immediately feels bad for not noticing that Mark wants to talk, especially with Mark next to him. “You have something to say, Mark-hyung?”

“Uh, yeah.” Mark smiles, a little sheepish. Everyone’s eyes are on him now. “Something I wanted to give you all, actually.” He reaches for the plastic bag that’s been sitting at his feet the whole while. Jaebum had noticed it, but he hadn’t thought to ask about it.

What Mark pulls out is a flat box, like one you’d buy jewellery in. When he opens it up, it turns out that that’s exactly what it is. Inside, there’s a shape with seven sides, made up of seven triangles on seven chains. Jaebum thinks back to his birthday cake, how it was difficult to cut into equal pieces: maybe food companies should consider making cakes in this shape to make it easy. Sure, seven might be a bit of an awkward number – it’s not six or nine or twelve – but it’s _theirs._

There’s a different design on each triangle, just like the seven of them, really – different people with different personalities, all offering different things to the relationship – and Jaebum knows which one is his right away: a palm tree, cut out of the metal.

“Can I?” He’s the closest to Mark, so he reaches out for it. Mark nods.

“Go ahead.”

Jaebum picks up his necklace by the chain, and Mark hands the rest out.

“You guys don’t have to wear these if you don’t want to,” Mark says, setting the now empty box on the coffee table before coming to sit back down where he was. “I just – I thought it might be nice?”

“It is nice,” Youngjae tells him, genuine, squeezing Mark’s hand. “Thank you, hyung. I feel like… like I belong somewhere. I mean, I did already, I guess, because it’s been a whole year, but now I have something to show for it.” He curls a hand around his pendant, already around his neck. “Something to remind me.”

He sounds almost – relieved, like he’s finally assured that he’s wanted. It’s the kind of thing that would probably be invisible to other people, but Jaebum sees it, sees things others would miss if they didn’t look past Youngjae’s grin or the volume of his voice, things he’s told Jaebum in the quietest of places: when the two of them were side by side on Youngjae’s bed, or in between songs in the warm darkness of a karaoke booth just the other week. It hurts that Youngjae might ever feel insecure about his place here.

On Jaebum’s other side, Yugyeom turns to him, nodding down at the chain in Jaebum’s hands.

“You want me to put it on for you, hyung?”

“Sure.” There isn’t a clasp on the chain, so it’s not like it’s something Jaebum couldn’t do on his own, but he accepts nonetheless. He hands over his necklace and Yugyeom beams at him before slipping it over Jaebum’s head.

“You do me now?” Yugyeom asks, and Jaebum does. He traces a thumb over the intricate design on Yugyeom’s triangle before leaning in for a kiss, brief but tender. He hopes Yugyeom never feels unsure about how he fits in here, either: Jaebum really can’t imagine what it would be like, being the youngest.

Jaebum’s eyes drift to where the box has been set down on the coffee table: it’s empty, and when he glances around the room, everyone’s got their necklaces on. His focus shifts to where Jinyoung’s sitting, Jackson leaning against his shoulder and one of Bambam’s hands clasped tightly in his, their fingers tangled together. Jaebum catches Jinyoung’s eye and smiles, and Jinyoung smiles back, wrapping his other arm around Jackson’s shoulder and then laughing at whatever Jackson just murmured in his ear. Good.

Jaebum, meanwhile, leans across to Mark.

“Thank you,” Jaebum says, quiet, mouth close to Mark’s ear, and Mark smiles at him.

“It’s no problem,” he says, one hand reaching to Jaebum’s knee. It’s a casual touch, but there’s so much meaning behind it, held there in the faint pressure of Mark’s hand. Jaebum thinks back to the beginning of all this, when Mark was more closed off, more hesitant, when he was still somewhat of a mystery. He’s still quiet – it’s just in his nature – but now he’s more willing to open up, laughing and touching more easily.

Jaebum supposes he’s the same when it comes to touching. Before this – before everyone – the only person he was truly comfortable enough with was Jinyoung. Now, though, he slings an arm over Yugyeom’s shoulder, mirroring Jinyoung’s arm around Jackson. It all feels right, every piece of contact so easy, but Jaebum knows there’s one thing that would make it better, that would make the night perfect – that would make the morning perfect when it inevitably comes.

“Hey,” he says, raising his voice to get Jinyoung’s attention, “Jinyoungie – do you think there’s a plausible way to make sure that seven people can sleep comfortably in this apartment?”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading - you can also find me on tumblr @ vibetechs!!


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